Summary of JAPANESE mythology and characteristics

The asian mythologies They are one of the least known, because they stayed away from the European ones for a long time. One of the main beliefs of this continent was Japanese mythology, which contains many interesting and unique elements. To get to know it in depth, in this lesson by a Teacher we offer you a summary of japanese mythology and characteristics.

Japanese mythology is the set of beliefs that throughout history has been creating a group of myths. Japanese beliefs are one of the most variable in history, since over the centuries there are many currents of thought that have modified part of their beliefs, such as Taoism, Buddhism or Shintoism.

But the Japanese beliefs have not only been modified by other religions, but the traditions and legends from other mythologies have also influenced its evolution, the clearest example being the Chinese myths, with whom the Japanese have always had a very special relationship.

Unlike other mythologies, such as the Greek or the Nordic, the Japanese have always been clear that part of their beliefs are simple myths, so

They do not believe in the existence of great divinities, unlike most other mythologies.

The enormous variety of myths and beliefs in Japan makes it difficult to comment on all the sources that give life to this mythology, although we can say that the most numerous are the written ones, with iImportant texts like the Kojiki or the Nihonshoki.

On the other hand, there are other types of sources, such as archaeological ones with their ceramics decorated with deities Japanese, but these are much less relevant than the written sources.

To understand the elements of Japanese mythology, we must talk about its most striking features. One of the main reasons why we should talk about this is because being such a belief different from the European ones, we must understand the differences between the European mythologies and asian.

The main characteristics of japanese mythology are the following:

• The Names of their deities were extremely long, causing that in the vast majority of texts they are already shortened, to make it easier for the Japanese to remember these names.
• Is a very varied mythology, mixing elements of local legends with beliefs from other religions such as Buddhism or Taoism. The mixture of such different ideas gave rise to a variety of myths that very few mythologies in the world have.
• they mostly know differentiate what is real from what is a myth, being something very rare in most myths. Even so, in some myths they are mixed with reality, such as the legends that speak of the divine origin of the emperor.
• The written sources They are the basis of Japanese myths, since centuries ago all possible information about it was documented so that it could not disappear. That is why it is one of the few classical mythologies that defend the written source over the oral source.
• Japanese myths have heroes, being people created expressly to fight against the dangers of myths, being the only reason for their existence. Although some heroes are based on real people who existed, and whose achievements made them legends.
• Animals have a lot of presence in myths, many of whom are highly intelligent and have the ability to speak. Within these animals we can find common creatures such as foxes or wolves, but also some fantastic ones such as dragons.
• has a lot influence with Chinese and Korean beliefs, because they have always kept a great closeness and have been related to each other.
• They have many Mythical creatures, many of which bear no resemblance to any European creature.
• Demons occupy an important role in Japanese beliefs, being fearsome and dangerous figures, and that are almost impossible to destroy.
• Japanese myths always have very diverse deities, like the Taoists or the buddhists, although the main ones are the kumis. The kumis are the main Japanese deities, with supernatural abilities, and the ability to change their appearance.

As in almost all beliefs, one of the most interesting myths is that of the creation of the world, serving to see the basis of the world and how the main elements of Japanese myths appeared.

in the beginning of everything there was only heaven and earth and, at that instant, three gods created themselves and hid themselves in the sky. Shortly after, between heaven and earth a space arose and from this two other deities were born. Little by little, seven more deities emerged. All of them got together to talk about the fate of the world and decided that the two youngest would be in charge of creating the Japanese islands: the gods Izanagi and Izanami. The two gods plunged a javelin given by the other gods into the sea and the island of Onokoro was born from its drops. Izanagi and Izanami once again thrust the javelin to create an altar, which was the Heavenly Pillar.

Soon after, the two gods realized that their bodies were made differently and that if they joined together they could conceive the Earth, causing more islands to be born. But from the relationship between the two, no island was born, but Hiruko is born, a child who was thrown into the sea in a boat as it was not what the couple wanted.

These gods discovered that their bodies were made differently. So, out of curiosity, Izanagi asked his wife Izanami if it would please her to conceive more land so that more islands would be born from it. The couple tried to procreate again, this time asking the rest of the gods what they had done wrong. Thanks to the help of the gods, the couple was able to form the islands of Japan, but not only that, but they were able to create gods to beautify the islands, and create deities united with nature, being the well-known gods of the Shinto pantheon.

One of the last gods was that of fire, which seriously injured his mother, Izanami, causing the death of the goddess. Full of anger, the god Izanagi killed the god of fire and wanted to go to Yomi, the land of the Japanese dead, to accompany his wife, but when Izanami arrived he was gone forever. From that moment, Izanagi was attached to life and Izanami to death.

To end this lesson on Japanese mythology, we have to talk about one of the main elements of Japanese beliefs: the gods. Deities are an interesting part of all mythologies, but the variety of Japanese beliefs makes it very interesting.

Main gods of japanese mythology are the following:

• izanagi: God of creation, who after the death of Izanami became responsible for living people. He is the father of a large part of the pantheon along with Izanami, but also alone of deities like Amaterasu or Susanoo.
• izanami: Goddess of creation and death. He was the person who gave birth to the Japanese islands and a large part of the gods, but after his death he became responsible for people dying in order to balance the world.
• amatsumara: The god of all things iron, though surprisingly he was not the patron of blacksmiths.
• Benzaiten: God of music and dialectic, being the god who expected everything to be resolved through words.
• bishamonten: God of warriors, to whom he gave strength for war, and punisher of criminals.
• Daikokuten: God of wealth and of the home, being therefore the person to whom people asked for help to be able to pay their debts.
• fukurokuju: God of wisdom and longevity, according to myths he always carries a book in which he has written down the entire life of each one of the people.
• jurojin: God of longevity, being the person who helped the elderly to reach old age, and therefore being very loved by the elderly.
• Amaterasu: Goddess of the Sun, being for this reason one of the most important gods of Japan.
• uzume: Goddess of dance, fertility and happiness. She is a faithful companion of Amaterasu.
• Fujin: One of the first gods, being the representative of wind and air.
• Hachiman: God of war of farmers. He is considered a god who brings peace to the world, being very loved for it.
• Inari: God of foxes, rice, agriculture and industry. He is considered the patron saint of blacksmiths.
• Omoikane: God of wisdom and intelligence, being the one who helped the other gods to make decisions.
• raijin: A demon that represented thunder, so it was his fury that caused the storms.
• ryujin: A dragon that represented the sea, being the ones who helped the sailors to reach land.
• Susanoo: The evil brother of Amaterasu, being able to bring evil to the world.
• tsukuyomi: God of the Moon, thus being the counterpart of Amaterasu. It is said that the power of this deity is such that the sun god is afraid of him, and for this reason he always flees in his presence.

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